BCM from a strategic perspective

At the last plenary meeting we took the opportunity to discuss with Mr Brian Zawada from USA and project leader for ISO 22331 on "Security and resilience - Business continuity management systems - Guidelines for business continuity strategy"

Could you briefly describe the project and what you are trying to achieve?

This project, which is charted to develop a technical specification addressing the topic of business continuity strategy determination and selection, was identified over and over as a knowledge gap. Too many organizations jump from the business impact analysis to writing plans, overlooking the process of evaluating the range of options available to them to address management-approved business continuity requirements. It’s our project team’s hope that this technical specification will help organizations avoid this mistake.

What kind of expertise are you looking for in order to develop the standard and what are the benefits of joining a project like this?

We’re looking for business continuity and risk management professionals with experience identifying business continuity strategies that address the outcomes of business impact analyses and risk assessments. These strategy options address disruption related risks affecting products/services, processes, activities and resources (facilities, people, equipment, technology and third parties).

What are the key challenges in trying to develop your standard?

The top two challenges are to address the topic in the most simple, pragmatic manner, while at the same time summarizing the many options available to organizations of all types and sizes to address the topic of disruption-related risk.

Why did you decide to join ISO/TC 292 and work with standards?

I’ve been involved with standards development for many years now and I now only enjoy sharing my experiences, but also engaging with highly experienced global professionals to discuss what’s worked well for them, as well as the challenges they face in other parts of the world. Standards development-related discussions really open my eyes to new ideas and ways to tackle the problem of effective business continuity planning approaches and capabilities.